The J-Class was adopted for
America's Cup competition in 1928, looking forward to the next
regatta in 1930. The Class itself, though, dated back to
the turn of the century when the Universal Rule was adopted.

The Rule used a yacht's various
dimensions to calculate an equivalent rating in feet. Boats
of equal rated lengths could then race against each other
directly without making other allowances for time or distance
sailed. Even though one yacht might have a longer length or
another yacht a larger sail area, their overall configurations
had to produce a rated length that met the Universal Rule for
that class. J-Class yachts were the largest constructed under the
Universal Rule. The Rule actually includes provisions for
an even larger type of boat, the I-Class, though none were ever
built. Inquiries made in the 1930s for a Defense in the
smaller K-Class were rejected.

The J-Class were the first yachts
in an America's Cup match to be governed by a formal design rule.
Previous defenders and challengers were only restricted by
minimum and maximum lengths set forth in the Deed of Gift.
Sir Thomas Lipton, challenging in 1930 for the fifth time, had
held earlier discussions with the New York Yacht Club in hopes of
adopting the Universal Rule for the previous America's Cup match,
intended for 1914 but delayed until 1920. Though an
agreement to use the rule was not reached for that match, the
1914 boats, Vanitie and Resolute, still roughly
followed J-Class parameters.

Building Program:

There were only 10 J-class yachts
designed and built. Additionally, several yachts of closely
related dimensions, mostly 23-Meter International Rule boats,
were converted after their construction to meet the rating rules
of the J-Class.

Only the purpose-built Cup
yachts, though, could compete in the America's Cup. The
"converted" J-Class yachts, while acceptable for Class racing
events, were not admissible for America's Cup competition.
Responding to issues that surfaced in earlier defenses, the
America's Cup rules required that all boats had to be sailed to
the event on their own bottom. Some critics pointed out the
possibility that the challenger might, as a result, be
disadvantaged by being of heavier construction than the
defender. In order to avoid a situation that could be
perceived as an undue advantage, the NYYC eventually agreed that
all America's Cup J-Class yachts would be built to Lloyds A1
standards, ensuring that defender and challenger met the same
minimum construction specifications (the nautical term is
"scantlings"). Most existing yachts were not built to such
standards, so the Cup-eligible boats thus ended up heavier than
the ineligible J's.

(The issue of challengers having
to build heavier boats due to the ocean crossing was a popular,
if uncertain, explanation in the British press for the long
string of American victories. In practice, a number of
challengers added internal bracing for the crossing, which was
then removed before racing. And on a few occasions
defenders subsequently made the crossing in reverse in search of
competition following their successful defense. The rule
requiring that the challenger sail to the event on her own bottom
was actually instituted in response to a super-lightweight
challenger towed to the match through canals and rivers from
Canada. )

Launched May 10, 1930. Name: "Weetamoe" was
an American Indian Queen; Tobin bronze
plating. Triple-headed rig. Morgan
Syndicate: George Nichols, J.P. Morgan, Cornelius
Vanderbilt, Arthur Curtiss James, George T.
Bowdoin, Henry Walters, Gerard Lambert. Cost
estimated at $300,000 for hulls, rig, and sails.
Narrowest of the four 1930 US boats. Sold to
Fredrick Henry Prince, October, 1930. Hull
modified for 1934, including larger and heavier
keel; believed to be slower, later restored to
original configuration. Weetamoe also
raced in the off-years between defenses.
1930 Tender: Emblane.

Design based on Burgess's scheme derived from
models tested in Stevens Institute towing-tank
during partnership work with Olin Stephens; final
design has elements of both men's ideas; design
lines established by August, 1936; keel laid
December, 1936; cost $500,000; steel hull, flush
riveted; heat-treated steel rod shrouds;
translucent bakelite deck inserts; lost mast on
delivery cruise off Cape Cod; replaced with new in
21 days; used wheel, rigging and sails salvaged
from Rainbow and Enterprise (same
No. 1 main was used on all three); Vanderbilt's 3
J's all used the tender Bystander, which
also served the 12M defender candidate Vim in
1958, and challengers Gretel (1962) and Dame
Pattie (1967); Launched May 11, 1937;
Bath Iron Works Hull # 172; built at cost; funded
solely by Vanderbilt; named for US frigate
Ranger commanded by John Paul Jones; largest
displacement J-Class; Hauled at end of 1937 and
never sailed again. Sold for scrap May,
1941, bringing $12,000.

Shamrock V

Built
at Camper & Nicholson yard in Gosport.
Mahogany planking over steel frames, yellow pine
deck; teak stem, stern posts, and counter-timbers;
hollow spruce mast, elliptical section; lower sail
area but greater rig height relative to other J's;
Extensively tuned up in England before 1930
Challenge; Sold to Sopwith 1932; modified by
Sopwith including hull and rudder; Sold to Sir
Richard Fairey; Sold to Mario Crespi post-war;
Sold to Piero Scanu 1962; renamed Quattrofoglio
(spelling uncertain but roughly "Four Leaf" in
Italian as a play on her original name);
ketch-rigged?; Appeared in movie "Swept Away";
Rebuilt at C&N 1967-70; Sold to Lipton Tea Co.
1986, donated to Newport Museum of Yachting;
Restored under Elizabeth Meyer 1989, rig,
bulwarks, deckhouse rebuilt to original; sold to
Newport Yacht Restoration School 1995; sold to
Newport Shamrock V Corp 1998; refit 2000 at
Pendennis, under Gerard Dykstra; sold to Marcos de
Maraes, Brazil. Lipton had a 23M yacht also named
Shamrock, sometimes confused with his
America's Cup boats. The 23M was broken up
in 1933.

Endeavour

Steel
hull, Steel mast, originally "North Circular"
bending boom, later "Park Avenue" boom; Originated
use of double-clewed "quadrilateral" jib; Sold to
Herman Andrae; Chartered to Sopwith for 1936;
Broke loose from tow mid-ocean returning to
England, missing and feared lost, September 1937;
Laid up 1937 Camper & Nicholson; Sold for scrap
1947 to Charles Kerridge Limited, intent to scrap
keel for lead content, but hull reprieved; sat as
abandoned hulk for decades; sold for 10 pounds in
1970's; owned by British Maritime Trust 1973-77;
John Amos and Graham Jack 1978-80; John Amos
1980-83; restoration started; sold to Elizabeth
Meyer 1984; restored by Meyer, with Gerard Dykstra
as designer, work completed at Royal Huisman and
re-launched in 1989; sold to Dennis Kozlowski
(2000), yacht based in Newport, RI; sold to Cassio
Antunes (2006) for reported $13.1 million USD,
apparent plan to base in Cayman Islands and
Cascais, Portugal.

Only
J-boat not designed to compete in America's Cup;
Steel mast; reused material from smelting White
Heather II's keel; Ends modified 1935;
Name combines Stephenson's daughters Velma,
Daphne, and Sheila; (laid up 25 years?); Restored
Terry Brabant 1983, maintaining very original
condition; Sailed as charter; Sold to Swiss
owner, refit stalled for lack of funds; Laid
up Gosport; Sold in 1996, major refit 1996-7 at
Southampton Yacht Services under Gerard Dykstra,
interior, CF rig, sails, modernized, but less
authentic; Current owner Ronald de Waal.

Vanitie

A
1920 Defender Candidate, Vanitie lost to
Resolute in 1914 trials (defense postponed)
and 1920 trials, losing 7-4 in final 1920
selection series. Owned by Alexander Smith
Cochran. Not designed as a J, but altered
after construction to rate as a J; not acceptable
for AC as a J-Class yacht because lightweight, not
Lloyd's A1. Sold to Gerard Lambert, 1928. Trial
horse 1930 and 1934 America's Cup defender trials.
Laid-up at Herreshoff Mfg. and scrapped there in
1938.

Resolute

Converted to schooner rig in the 1920s; Not
designed as a J, but altered after construction to
rate as a J; not acceptable for AC as a J-Class
yacht because lightweight, not Lloyd's A1.
Sold to E. Walter Clarke. Laid-up at
Herreshoff Mfg. and scrapped there in 1939. Beam
21'11", draft 13'9".

White Heather II

Converted to J rating in 1930. Established
Nicholson's reputation in big racing yachts.

Cambria

Cambria shares name with First Challenger to a US
Defender, 1870; Sold to Mike Sears (US,
McDonnell-Douglas) 1972; Sold to Charlie Whitcombe
(NZ) 1987; Sold to AUS restoration Group (Denis
O'Neil, John David, Ian Murray) 1994; refit `99?;
for sale 2000 ($7.5 M); rated as a J-Class, 2003,
though she was not rated as such in the 1920s and
30s.

Astra

Not
designed as a J, but altered after construction to
rate as a J in 1931; raced well as J in light
weather; Sold to Sir Howard Frank; sold to Hugh
Paul, 1930; sold to Italian ownership 1950,
converted to Yawl rig; Gian Carlo Bussei led
restoration 1987 at Cantieri Navali Becooncini, La
Spezia, Italy.

Launched April 20, 1893; Defeated America's Cup
Defender Vigilant in fleet racing on the
Clyde, 1894; Built for HRH Albert Edward, Prince
of Wales; Sold to private owners, 1897;
Bought back in 1902, after the Prince had acceded
to the throne as Edward VII; Passed to his son
George V after Edward's death in 1910; Rated after
construction as 23M; not designed as a J, but
altered in 1931, converted to "Marconi" rig, sail
area 8,700 sf, triple-headed, and rated as a J;
modified to double-headed-rig and Park Avenue boom
in 1935; Scuttled off the Isle of Wight by Edward
VIII, July 9, 1936, as per wishes of his father,
George V, who did not wish to see the yacht live
on to a life of decline once he was gone.

Disposition:

Conceived at
the height of the affluent 1920's, the J-boats arrived during the
Great Depression. They required enormous crews, and,
despite expert attention to their technical details, still broke
an astonishing number of masts. While they were in most
regards the most advanced sailing yachts yet built, and they were
indeed powerful sailing thoroughbreds formed in sleek lines that
can race the pulse of almost every viewer, the glorious J's
proved too extravagant for their own good. Most had very
limited sailing careers outside of America's Cup. Ranger,
whose 1937 cost was upwards of $500,000, was laid-up at the end
of her debut season and never sailed again. All of the
American J's were scrapped between 1935 and 1941. Most of the
British J's were either abandoned or scrapped.

When NYYC
sought to revive the America's Cup in the 1950s, there was a
faction that favored returning to the J-Class. Mike
Vanderbilt even stated that not only would he like to see the Cup
contested in the large boats, but that if so he would consider
rebuilding a new Ranger to the design of the original.
Still, another faction hoped for smaller dual-use yachts that
could be used in offshore racing when the Cup year was ended.
With cost estimates for a 1958-era J starting around three
million dollars, the impulse for a J-Class defense faded away in
the face of economic pressures and a compromise was reached to
sail the America's Cup in International Rule 12-Meters.

Out of nine America's
Cup J's, only two survive today: Shamrock V, the
1930 Challenger, and Endeavour, the 1934
Challenger. Velsheda, distinguished by
being the only yacht built as a J-class though not
intended for America's Cup, is intact and sailing, too.
Of at least seven other boats that were rated as J's,
two remain: Cambria, and Astra.
Cambria was originally a 23-Meter International
Rule yacht, but later altered to rate as a J. The
surviving boats have all had extensive restoration and
re-building. Endeavour was rescued from near
oblivion, too delicate to move without structural
reconstruction.

The J-Class
Resurgent

J-Class rigs
today are no longer built of wood or dur-alumin, but with modern
lightweight composites. Their sail technology is long past
being canvas duck, and many other subtle changes have been made
to make the ongoing maintenance and operation of these yachts a
realistic proposition. Still, the J-Class owners have gone
to great lengths to insure the integrity of the boats. The
J-Class is self-administered, rather than governed by an outside
organization as is the case with almost all other classes.
This allows the members to more easily adapt the rules in order
to serve the needs of these uniquely historic yachts.

Most of the
surviving J's are available for charter. Cambria was
reportedly for sale in 2000. Endeavour changed hands
in 2006 for a reported $13.1 million USD, though as her former
owner Dennis Kozlowski said, "No one truly owns Endeavour.
She's a part of yachting history.''

Recreations,
Replicas, and a Tender:

For decades,
most yachting fans thought that we would never again see the
likes of these boats again, the few survivors would sooner or
later fade away, and the whole history would be reserved for
books and fading photographs, but following the restoration of
the surviving hulls rumors grew throughout the late 1990's and
early 2000's about building "new" J's. In 2001, all of this
dock talk began to become reality:

Ranger
Wooden Boat magazine, March/April 2001, described a "Dutchman"
who had commissioned a new Ranger built to the original's
plan. This incredible rumor came true, and a piece of lost
sailing history was brought back to life. The new version
of this "Superboat", as Mike Vanderbilt once called her, was
officially launched in October, 2003.

Designed by
Studio Scanu and Reichel-Pugh, and built by Danish Yachts, Skagen,
Denmark, she is not an exact replica of the original. Some would
term her a re-interpretation, as a number of changes were made
including greater freeboard, and Ranger's original
designers did not participate in the project. The new
Ranger first competed head-to-head against other J's in
Antigua, Spring, 2004. It took some additional adjustment
after launch by her owners and designers to seek the proper trim
that would make her float on her lines, an essential step in the
process of being officially rated a J-Class yacht. Visit
the Ranger
Website for more info.
J-Class Management is also at work on a restoration of
Bystander, tender to the original Ranger.

Endeavour II
An Endeavour II replica is being built at Royal Huisman
Shipyard, with a planned 2008 launch date.
Gerard Dykstra and Partners is leading the project, which
features a lightweight Alustar (aluminum alloy) hull and
carbon-fiber mast. See additional photo at
Yachtspotter

Svea
Tore Holm's unbuilt 1937 design, said by some to be faster in the
test tank than any of the original boats, is being pursued byHoek Design

Name To Be AnnouncedIn late March 2008, reports of another replica about to begin
construction appeared on the
Classic Boat website. Whether this is one of the
known projects, such as Svea, above, or yet another
replica about to become reality, such as Rainbow, below,
should become known shortly.

RainbowIn late May, 2008,
Dykstra and Partners announced that a new build of the 1934
America's Cup Defender Rainbow was underway, with an
expected launch date of 2010. Read the Press
Release

Other projects:
Hoek Design is also studying replicas of 1930's Enterprise
and another boat from Yankee designer Frank Paine.
Yankee herself has also been rumored as a new project, as
well. Earlier reports of a Ranger alternate-design
carrying the name of Seawolf may have been referring to
the project that has become Lionheart, see above.
Whirlwind and Weetamoe are the only two designs of the
original ten J's that aren't known to be sailing, building, or
under serious consideration as of 2008. The J-Class website
points out that there are 10 unbuilt J designs from the 1930's,
so the possibilities for more J-Class yachts are intriguing.

Yachting World
reported in
May, 2003, that construction was underway on a yacht
replicating the famous G.L Watson design Britannia.
Photos showed a nearly completed hull at Solombala Shipyard, in
Arkhangel, Russia, and included interviews with the yacht's owner
Sigurd Coates of Norway. The design was adapted by Cesil
Stephansen from published plans. The original designer's
modern descendent company, G.L.Watson & Co., Ltd., has no
involvement with the Arkhangel boat. Little was been heard
of this ambitious project for years, until the yacht finally
launched only to become subject of a financial dispute, trapping
her in Russia until 2009, when she "escaped" to Norway.

In the Spirit

A similar
project to return elegant yachts to competitive racing, the
W-class, was set in motion by Donald Tofias, an American
enthusiast. He commissioned naval architect Joel White to
design a new class with lines evocative of famous racing yachts
like the New York 50's and the J-Class. The first two
boats, Wild Horses and White Wings, were built in
Maine of modern cold-molded wood construction and launched in
1998. It is Tofias' aim that there will eventually be a
whole fleet of the beautiful W-class to regularly compete against
each other. The one-design W-76 is actually similar to the
New York 50's. Tofias' long-range plans involve a range of
classes including 46, 62, 76, 105, and 130. The 130's would
be nearly identical in basic dimensions to the J-class. See the
W-Class
Website.

K-Class:The Royal London Yacht Club made and withdrew its inquiry for
a K-Class challenge in 1935. The intent had been to reduce
costs, not the least of which was hoped to be a slower velocity
of mast replacements, but the K-Class line of thought was
rejected for several reasons. For one, the K-Class wasn't
so much smaller than the J-Class as to have clearly led to
significant savings. Additionally, no K-Class yachts
existed on either side of the Atlantic while several J's of
various pedigree were available for testing, training, and racing
in 1935. Also a factor was that the NYYC was already
actively considering another challenge at the time the RLYC began
their communication about the K-Class and it was the NYYC's
policy to consider only one challenge at a time, in keeping with
the Deed of Gift.

Sailing to
the Event on Own Bottom:This provision of the Deed of Gift was strictly interpreted
to the the degree of making sure that the challenging yacht
actually was under her own sail while traveling to the match, not
towed by another yacht. Challengers returning across the
Atlantic after Cup matches concluded were sometimes towed for
convenience.